Although some rain fell on Deschambault in the morning during
qualifiers, the track, Motocross Deschambault, held up nicely all day and by
early afternoon sunshine had replaced the grey skies. With temperatures that reached a high of only
23°C, it was perfect racing weather compared to a week ago at a hot and humid
Sand Del Lee in Ontario.

The battle for MX1 supremacy continued in Deschambault with the top
three contenders, Goerke, Brett Metcalfe, and Colton Facciotti providing most
of the upfront action. Cole Thompson, who sits fourth in the current points
ranking, kept things interesting by staying in the mix, taking home fourth
overall on the day on the strength of 4-3 motos.

Goerke’s Rockstar Energy OTSFF Yamaha MX1 teammate Bobby Kiniry logged
another solid weekend with 6-6 moto finishes, which gave him sixth overall on
the day. Thanks to his consistent riding all afternoon, the New Yorker
strengthened his hold on sixth in the current points ranking.

Goerke nailed the first moto holeshot aboard his explosive YZ450F
directly ahead of Kyle Swanson, Thompson, Facciotti and Tyler Medaglia. Despite
the blistering pace Goerke was laying down up front the main chase group stuck
with him till past the halfway point of the moto. Around that time Facciotti stuck
a pass on Thompson for second. In short order, Metcalfe, who had started in
eighth place, relegated Thompson to fourth.

With less than two laps to go, Goerke, who had finally put some eight
seconds on Facciotti by the end of lap 10, got caught up in heavy lapper
traffic. This turn of events worked to the advantage of Facciotti, who was able
to grab the lead and take the moto win. Metcalfe was also able to capitalize on
the lappers situation and drag-raced Goerke to the checkered flag. Goerke
prevailed, however, with Metcalfe crossing the finish line in Goerke’s rear
wheel.

Facciotti snared the second moto holeshot with Thompson, Goerke,
Metcalfe and Medaglia following in close proximity into turn one. By the
halfway point of the moto Facciotti had a four-second lead on Metcalfe, who had
passed Thompson on lap five. Goerke, who also stuck a pass on Thompson on the
same lap, stayed on the gas to keep the two frontrunners in his crosshairs. On
lap 10, with a rerun of lapper traffic in the mix, Facciotti and Metcalfe
connected, which resulted in the defending champ going down.

This time it was Goerke’s turn to benefit from lapper chaos. He managed
to deftly navigate past the lappers, a downed Facciotti, and a regrouping
Metcalfe, to take the lead. At this point of the race Goerke was on his way to
the moto victory and overall win of the day. Metcalfe finished second a few
bike lengths back, with Thompson cementing the podium positions in third.
Facciotti, who had remounted in fifth, finished there behind fourth-running
Medaglia.

“It was a crazy day all around. Winning never seems easy, even when you
have a big lead, because anything can happen and it’s not over until you cross
the finish line. But I’ll remember Deschambault as one of the toughest races of
the season,” Goerke said. “I had to fight for every inch of ground with Brett
and Colt, who have no intention of just handing me a win anymore than I do when
I’m chasing them. The lappers obviously played a key role in both moto
finishes. But that’s part and parcel of motocross and it’s something you know
you have to deal with.”

Meanwhile, Kiniry got fairly decent starts in both motos; both times
inside the top 10. In the first moto, he found himself around eighth place,
which he parlayed into sixth by the halfway point on the physically and
technically demanding Deschambault track. In moto two, he dove into turn one in
sixth place and held that position until the end.

“I didn’t quite get the starts I wanted and was off the pace with the
guys I should have been. But I took it for what it was and focused on clicking
off some decent laps and not lose position or take myself out and try to catch
back up to where I was. It’s really about the points now and with six motos
left there’s still quite a few to be collected,” Kiniry said.

In MX2 action, defending champ Kaven Benoit nailed the first moto
holeshot to lead the race wire to wire. Shawn Maffenbeier started around eighth
place but quickly piloted his YZ250 into the top five. By lap six he was
holding down fourth and stayed there until the closing laps, when a relentless
Dylan Wright managed to stick a pass on him. In a bid to repass him,
Maffenbeier went down but recovered within seconds to not lose anymore
positions, crossing the finish line in fifth.

Benoit snared the second moto holeshot in front of a home province
crowd, followed by Jesse Pettis, Brad Nauditt, and Maffenbeier. Maffenbeier,
intent on redeeming himself, wasted no time sticking a pass on Nauditt and
Pettis to install himself in second place by the end of the first lap. With
Benoit already enjoying a hefty lead, Maffenbeier pinned the throttle, to which
Benoit replied in kind. Maffenbeier would hold down second and was never
threatened for position by third running Jeremy Medaglia. The frenzied pace he
and Benoit were hammering down saw Maffenbeier gap Medaglia by some 15 seconds,
a cushion he enjoyed from about the halfway point of the moto till the finish
line.

“I didn’t ride the greatest in the first moto, just kind of trying to
find my groove, and I made a few mistakes that ended up costing me a top three
finish. I knew I had to correct that situation in the second moto and I was
able to do that and salvage a second overall out of the deal,” Maffenbeier
said.

1.
Kaven Benoit 397 pts

2.
Jimmy Decotis 334

3.
Jeremy Medaglia 318

4. Shawn
Maffenbeier 280

5.
Blake Savage 277

6.
Dylan Wright 271

7.
Morgan Burger 241

8.
Brad Nauditt 227

9.
Jesse Pettis 198

10. Dustin
Creson 170

]]>Tue, 28 Jul 2015 06:02:52 -0700http://rockstarenergy.com/company/news/wins-all-around-for-rockstar-energy-polaris-racing-at-csra-season-opener-in-sault-ste-marie
Team Rockstar Energy Polaris Racing enjoyed a successful weekend of snowcross racing as the 2014/2015 Rockstar Energy Drink CSRA season kicked off at Searchmont Ski Resort in Sault Ste. Marie, ON. All three of the team’s drivers stayed consistent over the two days of handlebar banging action, ensuring a bounty of championship points were chalked up on the scoreboard.

On Saturday, Hayden, who is gunning for his eighth Pro Open National title this season, grabbed second place at the checkered flag in his first heat. He came out swinging in the second heat to take the win. A mediocre start in the final saw Hayden pour on the gas to manoeuvre his Polaris IQ 600 into a second place finish by the end of the race, just ahead of his teammate Dylan Hall, who finished third.

]]>Mon, 27 Jul 2015 08:25:53 -0700http://rockstarenergy.com/company/news/rockstar-energy-husqvarna-hangtown-mx-race-report
In previous years Anderson has been more comfortable racing on Supercross tracks than he was outdoors. This was in large part to his size. Being bigger than almost everyone else in the 250 class poses an immediate disadvantage on the mx tracks with large, horsepower robbing uphills and deep, foot peg dragging ruts. For the first time, Jason was extremely eager to go outside and play his hand on the bigger bike. It was pretty clear after one round that his starts will be better on the 450 which isn't necessarily a surprise, but he appeared more comfortable throughout the entire day. JA was also one of very few riders to hit the massive Fly 150 jump in both motos. At the end of the day he finished 3rd overall in his debut. A stellar start to his 2015 MX campaign.

Jason Anderson: "My weekend was good. Had a good first moto with a 3rd then the 2nd moto I felt pretty good but my arms got tired a little bit. Still got the podium though which was really cool. My first outdoor on the 450 so I'm pretty happy about that. This is one of the roughest tracks of the year but you just gotta go out there and get through it and be on the box."

Christophe Pourcel had a commendable return to racing and should hold his head high going into round 2 with a lot to build off of. Pourcel dabbled a bit in the 450 class in US motocross a few years ago, but this marks his first real opportunity for success in the premiere class after signing just a few short weeks ago with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing. Christophe was probably the biggest question mark entering the series. As expected, he posted some fast qualifying times in practice but the real mystery was how well he'd do when the gate dropped. In the first moto he motored on to a very solid 5th place finish. His second outing did not go as well but it was good enough to secure 8th overall. After nearly a year completely away from racing, that is quite a good start considering the level of competition he's joining. The near future looks bright for CP and the team.

Christophe Pourcel: "Today was ok, it was my first race back so it's tough after not being out there for so long. My speed was there for a top 5. Top 10 is the goal for Bobby [Hewitt] and myself for the first few races. We got that today but we're still trying to get me more comfortable with the team and the bike. I think after few races we will have a pretty good setup. I got bad starts this weekend and rode a little tight in the second moto so it could have been a lot better but I don't wanna just go out and crash in the first race either. Everything is new but the team has been amazing and really nice working with me so we will get everything worked out. I can only get better now and keep working on my fitness which is much better already than it was last year. I just need to fix some things, rebound next weekend and try to be in the top 5."

Zach Osborne's first moto was kind of wash. One he would like to go back and do again. However; his second moto was one of the more impressive rides of the weekend. The track appeared to have more lines and options than a rider could ever hope for but passing did not seem to be a common occurrence. For the majority of the day in the 250 class it was like a freight train as everyone just played follow the leader. It was evident that the fast lines were simply too much of an advantage over the alternate ones. In Zach's second time out, he managed to solve the problem and actually move forward. He started quite a ways back but consistently picked off position after position all the way up to 5th. If he had one more lap, it would not have been shocking for him to move into a podium position as he was all over the two guys in front of him.

Zach Osborne: "The first moto was not very good today at all for the situation I'm in. I got a bad start, pumped up and fell. It was pretty much a complete disaster honestly. Really not what I was looking for considering how hard I've been training. I felt like I was on par for a podium. I turned it around in the second moto. I had a decent start, not great but I was able to work my way up to 5th right behind 4th and 3rd. I can definitely take some positives from the second moto. I got my bike setup much better than it was in the first and now I can carry a little bit of momentum from that into Glen Helen."

Zach Bell was another guy who was making passes but unfortunately they were further back in the pack. Normally a consistently good starter, he just didn't nail them down at Hangtown. Zach is still not quite 100% after his practice crash before returning at Vegas Supercross though so the good news is that he will enter round two healthy and stronger than he was this past weekend. Bell's starts will certainly be better on the very long straightaway at Glen Helen and the odds are that his overall day will improve vastly as well.

Zach Bell: "The day started off good with 5th in first practice, second practice just couldn't get a clear lap in. First Moto I got a horrible start and worked my way up to 13 and had a bad crash on the last lap. 2nd Moto got a decent start and the second turn I got cleaned out and ran over and was dead last and came back to 19th. It was a rough day but I'm still healthy so we will move on to the next!"

Next weekend the series moves to Glen Helen and the last race of the year in California. Anderson rides well at the San Bernardino track and will try to start a podium streak. Pourcel will continue to improve and look to work his way into a top 5 overall. Osborne will not be satisfied unless he gets on the podium which he is fully capable of. Bell has nowhere to go but up as he gets closer to being back to full health and starting much closer to the front of the pack.]]>Mon, 27 Jul 2015 08:25:52 -0700